text by Makiko Sakamoto-Martel
Clay is a primitive and primordial substance that trustingly lends to the emotions of the maker yet once fired is forever fixed. Its ability to transcend from malleable material from the earth to magical forms through contact with the human hand has fascinated artists for generations including many to explore its potential as a per fect vehicle for contemporary expressions.
Its versatility testifies to its extensive historical use and ceramic making tr aditions, but it is the tactile responsiveness of the clay, especially in a world where digital media blurs our perceptions of realities from that of fantasy, that reassures us and continues to make it a relevant art medium. The endless possibilities clay offers paired with the maker’s creative energy nurture new contemporary expressions that blend new aesthetics and world-views while pushing conventional boundaries and limitations.
Ting-ju Shao (1963-), one of Taiwan’s leading ceramic artists, has complete mastery of orchestrating lyrical worlds using clay figures. Her works are often pictorial as though they are ‘three dimensional painting’. She introduces her figures each with unique identity. She places these ambiguous figures in a variety of scenarios to stage an often uniquely ‘theatrical’ and ‘narrative’ microcosm that instantly engages the viewer.
Not only are the figures sculptural, but the way in which they are allowed to organically develop their own narrative and sense of space and time they occupy is indeed theatrical. Each of the witty titles is like a piece from a poem that sparks the imagination while some redirect the viewers to more serious social problems addressed in the work.
I first met Shao in 2006. She was introduced to me by Miura Hiroko, Curator of the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park (Japan), during an exhibition curated b y Mi ura and hel d at the Museum of Ceramic Art, Hyogo entitled Human Form in Clay: The Mind’s Eye. The exhibition brought together ceramic artists from U.S.A., Europe and Asia basedon the theme of ‘mankind’.
Shao exhibited two key works: “Hearing the trotting sound of the horse, do we know just who is the visitor in this universe II?” (2002) and “Meeting the beautiful green light of the universe II” (2005). Both were particularly memorable. The simple texture of unglazed stoneware of the human, angel and avian figures presented in cartoon-like whimsical style as though having escaped right out of anime or illustrated images were particularly striking.
The tiny figure intimidated by a large white bird with incredible bill is subtly humor ous while the white winged figure sitting quietly on the shoulder of a large stocky red man mutually enjoy calm is charming. Instinctively I came to regard Shao’s work as being pictorial and narrative, and felt her emotional presence as she created the work.
Especially standing in front of “Meeting the beautiful green light of the universe II” inspired me to conjure the scene in Miyazaki Hayao’s (1947-) full-feature animation film Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) wher e the giant r obots lived harmoniously with birds in idyllic landscape surrounding the derelict castle. The work invites the viewers to share with it a moment of peace.
While Miyazaki in his film Laput a apprehensively questions man’s ability to coexist with nature, Shao’s work in a similar stroke voices the need to reassess our relationship with nature. Both artists recognize the rise of many civilizations driven by man’s desire for progress. Both equally blame man’s hubris that often spelled his own downfall through striping nature of its resources. Nature itself, however, has shown through history its resilience and despite human exploitation continues to rejuvenate. Perhaps nature and man cannot coexist without some level of sacrifice, yet man cannot live independent of Mother Earth. This stoic theme is certainly palpable in both artists’ work.
In reflection, Shao might come across as social artist, but every theme she explores in her art mirrors her own inner conflicts, layers of thoughts, and attempts to answer existential questions about ‘who we are’ and ‘what makes us human’. Each work she creates embodies deep emotional strengths.
That is to say, she is acutely aware and sharply critical of contradictions in our modern society, while at the same time questions her own views, an exercise which she perhaps allows her ideas to run rampant deep into her psyche. Her creations serve as vestige of her thoughts mediated by clay and fired into physical sculptural forms. They mark her own existence in the real world and remind her of her convictions. Her work is fuelled by an urgency to create. Her work embodies serenity, purity, beauty and above all the will to live.
In April 2012 at the Western Oregon University Gallery (U.S.A), Shao’s most recent installation entitled “Age of Greed, Against the Light” was exhibited. The work involved five of her prototype figures each trying to carry on its back a thin long sack far greater than their physical size. Buckled forward and heaving under the weight, the figures struggle to move in the same single direction. Presenting the work similar to a snapshot from a play is a typical method she employs, but the deliberate lack of comical expression Shao is so adept at executing was particularly noticeable.
The work appear ed to be a stark portrayal of the desperations of laborers, who are trapped in a life of harsh labor with little compensation, and the greed of the rich, who sheds no interest in labor conditions but instead addicted to the thrills of personal gains and profit. Above all, however, the work seemed to vibrate with anger at the absurd world that continues to encourage such disparate society. Today’s capitalism as a game o f humanity (wealt h) manipulates people’s desire by not only disorienting them, but also forfeiting their naiveté and spirituality. This is made particularly poignant as for the first time in her series of work, the winged angel who represents hope and ‘the moment when human and nature share har mony’ turns its back and faces the opposite direction to where the struggling figuresare headed.
The Global Financial Crisis that the work references and first rocked Wall Street in 2008 to eventually cripple the world credit market continues to plague economic health of many nations. While she is fascinated by the crisis, Shao still feels that the problems we see are just the tip of the iceberg.
In her work the saving ‘light’ manifests in the forms of angels, spiritual gods, a man’s awareness and enlightenment and, the most treasured human attribute, ‘我本是'. Perhaps the title Against the Light suggests our ignorance to the truth.
For an artist devoted to uncovering the human spirituality, it is with great anti cip ati on to see how Shao will continue to pursue her sculptural creations. ‘What legacy can mankind leave to this world?’ The question will surely guide Shao in her pursuit of true self-awareness.
Postscript
Seeing Shao’s new body of works from 2013, I was taken aback by the drastic departure from her previous works. The figures are porcelain skinned image of children all with their eyes closed as though in deep calm meditation. There is less emphasis on the narrative. Instead a strong sense of urgency conveyed by the figures — as though to challenge the viewers to consider with a critical gaze the social issues we face — is as though a manifestation of the author’s prayer for deliverance. The figures stand in solemn quietness. As I write my postscript to the previously published essay, I am convinced once again that Ting-ju Shao is an exceptional artist who could sculpturally demonstrate a world that challenges the human spiritual boundaries.
("Works by T ing-ju Shao: In Pursuit of True Self-awareness" was originally published in New Ceramics, Issue 5/14, Höhr-Grenzhausen: Verlag Neue Keramik GmbH, 2014. 8- 13. Translated from Japanese by Kazuko Morohashi)
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